Improved car-brake



. 2 Sh t-Sh 2. a.- F. LYNCH. 98

Car Brake. No. 57,161.

Patented Aug. 14, 1866.

0 Witnesses= Inventor:

UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

GEORGE F. LYNCH, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

IMPROVED CAR-BRAKE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 57,161, dated August 14, 1866.

' city of Milwaukee, in the State of Wisconsin,

have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Operating Oar-Brakes; andI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact'description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the marks and letters thereon.

My improvement relates to the manner of operating car-brakes by the impinging of the cars, made the subject of Letters Patent granted to me on the 16th day of January, 1866, the invention being named in said patent as operating the brakes of the car by means of the force of its own momentum.

The improvement of the present application is shown by the drawings, which form part of this specification- Figure 1 being a bottom view of the means as they are applied to the platform, the view being had from underneath the platform, and Fig. 2 being a View by longitudinal section, the platform being in its proper position, or not reversed, as shown by Fig.1. In both of these figures a part of the platform is omitted and the inner partsof the end portions shown resting against or affixed to a central bar, thus certain portions unnecessary to illustrate the invention do not appear in the drawings. For the same reasons the brakes and wheels are not represented.

In both of the figures, where like parts are used, like marks and letters indicate the parts.

The platform-bars, as indicated, are marked a, the central bar I), the bumpers c, the bars for the attachment of the means d, the crossheads 0, their guide-bars f, and the slides of the guide-bars and cross-heads g, the tackleblock h, chains i, lever j, and ratchet-wheel 7a. The coiled spring lis simply put in to show the action of the cross-head at such times as the brakesprings would draw in the regular manner.

The arrangements at each end of the car in some points differ. In the one case the pawl or toothed bar an is raised by drawing on the bumper, an inclined face of the cross-bar 0 operating against the 'face of a projection of the pawl-bar m, while a spring acts upon the bar in the opposite direction, thus releasing the brakes by drawing on the bumper; and the amount of draft required may be easily fixed so as to require only a light compression of the bumper-spring, and consequently light draft, to trip the brakes; or it may be set so as to require a hard shock to trip them. This arrangement looks to making the operation automatic. In the other case the arrangement is such as to permit the use of the pawl-bar m, or not, as may be desirable; but when used it must be released by the hand-lever p, which has a notch, q, fitting on a catch, r, so that it may be held up, and when released the pawlbar is forced down by the spring a. The teeth of the pawl-bar in this arrangement, as in the other, act against the cross-head. In this arrangement there is an extra bar, 1), under the ordinary draw-bar or bumper, with end plates attached thereto, the one, to, acting against the cross-head, and through the other, 00, the link connecting with the other car passes, and which, when not in use, rests against the bumper-iron, but when to be used is thrown forward about .two inches by turning up the hand-wheel, and is held there by setting the ratchet-bar or pawl-bar. Then, when it comes in contact with the bumper of the opposite car the bar is forced back, thus applying the brakes without any extra movement on the bumper. Under these two arrangements the one end may be used for braking by impingement and the other be used for hand-braking.

The arrangement of a fixed pawl-bar permits of the cross-head being shoved out of reach of the bumper and held thus by the pawl-bar, and, of course, so long. as held in this position the brake would be a hand-brake, and it can be placed in that position before starting out of the depot; or the first impinging of the car would do it. Therefore a train might have being locked, creating a constant impinging A quality, when taken in connection with the cheapness and simplicity, is *the manner of taking up the wear and tear by this improvement. All other braking plans are continually getting out of tune; but in this plan every time a brake is set it takes up its own wear and does its own tuning. In braking by hand, after a train 7 gets under motion, the brakeman should take up the slack in his brakes and bring the shoes up close to the Wheel, so

a hurry without winding five minutes on slack chains. Now let him, with this attachment, wind upv his brakes until he feels the wheelsbear against the brakes, to be sure of taking up the slack; then let him let back a little and set it, and then he knows he is right and has taken up the wear of the last braking.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

' 1. The ratchet or pawl bar m, in connection with the lever 19 or the inclined face of the cross-bar 0, by which'the brakes are looked, as applied at the one end or tripped by the bumper at the other end, as they are arranged and operated substantially as herein recited.

.2. The extra bar 0, in connection with the bumper or draw-bar, constructed and operated as and for the purposes substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of the cross-heads, guidebars and slides, by which the motion of the bumper or extra bar is communicated to the levers, and through them, or their equivalents, to the brakes, as described.

4. The use of the hand or ratchet wheel and stem, in combination'with the other means herein recited for taking up the slack and 'wear, substantially as set forth. that he can bring the brakes to bearin case of This specification signedthis 25th day 6f April, 1866.

GEORGE W. LAKIN, I. S. CLARK. 

